The key to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The key to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Widely considered to be one of the worst of the Marvel movies, IM2 was integral to the formation of the Cinematic Universe as we know it.

Editorial Opinion
By sikwon - May 31, 2014 08:05 AM EST
Filed Under: Avengers

I'm going to jump right in.... IM2 wasnt a great movie. It was entertaining but fell far short of the awesomeness that was Iron Man. A lot of that had to do with the sheer amount of what they were trying to fit into the movie plot wise.... The origin of Whiplash (I tend to think of him as JUST Whiplash), Tonys issues with his father (I'll touch more on that), his poisoning as a result of the Arc Reactor in his chest, Justin Hammer, the beginning romance with Pepper, the Military trying to take his suite, the intro of Black Widow and the Heavy Shield presence and even hints at the famed Demon in a Bottle story line from the comics. In short there was a lot going on. Even with that or probably BECAUSE of all of that, IM2 is THE most important movie in the Marvel Universe. Here's some of the reasons why (this isn't mentioned to be a critique of the film).

1. Tonys daddy issues... We see in IM that Tony very much looks up to his father. His dad's WW2 contributions are well established in the original. In part two we see some of his post war accomplishments. In short Howard Stark is firmly established as being one of the most important figures of the 20th century. We also see that Tony has issues with him. That he struggles to live up to his dad's legacy and that he feels that legacy as a burden. We also see that him and his father had what many of us think to be a typical wealthy, extremely busy parent / child relationship...Howard seems a bit to preoccupied to give Tony the kind of attention he needs and his fathers approval matters greatly to Tony. This plot point receives a bit of resolution towards the end of IM2. But it dosent go away. We meet a young Howard Stark in Captain America the First Avenger and we see his relationship with Steve Rogers. This is a key plot point from both movies because it's shows up yet AGAIN for a 3rd time in the Avengers. There are several exchanges between Cap and Tony ware the subject of Tonys dad and Caps relationship is brought up... Most clearly when Tony says "this is the guy my dad never shutup about?" That tells us that Tony was raised on story's of Cap. Over the course of 3 movies Tonys resentment or jealousy of cap has been established. It's been minor for the most part with the loan exception being the Loki ruled argument all the Avengers have on the Hellicarrier. Why is this important? Because make no mistake, we WILL GET A VERSION OF CIVIL WAR at some point and this will prove to be an important plot point to keep in mind.

2. Every ones biggest complaint... Shields heavy presence and the feeling that fully half of the movie served as a preview for Avengers. This is absolutely true but more then that, it was completely necessary to the wholeUniversemoving forward. They needed to establish the greater, the larger, cinematic universe with this movie. Without the events of IM2 the transition to the Avengers and Thor and even Cap would have been more difficult. All the phase one elements needed to be strung together and pointed at the Avengers movie. This appears to be very similar to what WB/DC is doing with Batman & Superman. It's establishing the foundation of bigger things. Short of Shield having its own movie they needed to be established in some way. IM2 did that. By the time the Avengers came around we were all (and more importantly, none comic fans) firm iliac with Shield. That was necessary for the organization to be portrait as all powerful as it was in Avengers. It established that they were technicaly advanced, that they had their fingers in a lot of pies and that they had been an active secret entity since WW2. Shields heavy presence was essential in establishing the bigger picture.

In terms of importance to the bigger universe Iron Man 2 was without question the most important film to date. It laid a strong future plot line between its two main characters and it laid the foundation for everything that followed. I don't see it as a week movie, I see it for what it is, the foundation that the cinematic universe was built on. I had intended to make this a bit longer but I'm about to go to comic con in Hartford. I hope that you will look back with a bit of different perspective and rematch IM2 because it was an important movie for ware Marvel is now. 

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TheLokey1
TheLokey1 - 5/31/2014, 8:53 AM
Or how about, Iron Man 2: Dawn of Vengence
MrBlackJack
MrBlackJack - 5/31/2014, 9:03 AM
Iron Man 2, to me, feels like one of those films where had some things been cut (like some subplots) then it could have been great. I call it an overstuffed turkey.
Pasto
Pasto - 5/31/2014, 9:07 AM
I honestly liked Iron Man 2...
MrBlackJack
MrBlackJack - 5/31/2014, 9:08 AM
And yeah, Iron Man 2 has got me concerned about BvS, although BvS has the benefit of having Justice League coming right after it, as well as having the same crew work on the film, where as Iron Man 2 and The Avengers where produced by different creative teams and were a couple years apart.
Highflyer
Highflyer - 5/31/2014, 10:30 AM
At leaves Bvs is being upfront about being an opening to the justice league with its title.
sikwon
sikwon - 5/31/2014, 3:00 PM
I agree with glider. I really didn't see anything wrong but people complain all the time.
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 5/31/2014, 8:59 PM
Iron Man 3 took that spot, even worst than Iron Man 2 that's grown on me, just for the fact love WAR MACHINE! :p

Nice write up, thumbs up, I'm also gonna say I think if Marvel had the rights to Fantastic Four in Phase one, they would be very important to it all too, damn shame.
MightyZeus
MightyZeus - 5/31/2014, 9:49 PM
I actually only slightly like Iron Man 3 better than Iron Man 2 but i still dont love them. None of those two films have lived up too the first Iron Man film. That's just my opinion no need to hate me, i still love th MCU and as to how rich and diverse it is. I did however enjoy two Avenger set up plugs in Iron Man 2 which where:

1. Cap's Shield.
2. Tony Stark being interviewed by Nick Fury, you can spot a global map of activities going across the globe and there's a scene from TIH playing in the background, also the file titled Avenger's Initiative.
Wallymelon
Wallymelon - 6/1/2014, 12:33 AM
Dude great write up. You really picked up on some great character stuff that most overlook.
ruadh
ruadh - 6/1/2014, 9:39 AM
I still really don't get how it's a commercial for Avengers. Every character in the movie is there to serve or further Tony's plot. There are aspects that also set up Avengers, but the same is absolutely true for First Avenger and Thor. Black Widow never has a subplot that directly ties in with Avengers, she is just a character that appears in both movies. Her character is there to watch Tony on SHIELD's behalf, something continued from the first film. Fury and Howard show Tony is only one part of something bigger, but also help Tony overcome one of his biggest hurdles in the film. Maybe half of Coulson's involvement is setting up Thor, but that's only two scenes. Whiplash and Hammer both serve as.mirrors for Tony, essentially showing his darker potential. It was a bit clumsily handled sure, but still ties in with Avengers in no way. And the Pepper stuff is clearly a continuation from the first film, as well as a window for Tony's reaction to his own death. Giving away his company, and then also passively allowing Rhodey to take a suit and essentially be set up as his replacement is all part of Tony's plot and again sets up nothing for Avengers.

The tesseract, Loki, Stark Tower, the council, the chitauri, etc...none of these things are set up in Iron Man 2, so I still don't get how it's a commercial for Avengers. The one other Avenger that appears, as well as Fury, both serve Tony's plot. You do get one scene with Fury at the end, but that's still used to set up the medal ceremony.
Liverpool4life
Liverpool4life - 6/1/2014, 6:32 PM
Josh Brolin as Thanos anyone? That's the rumor at least.
Lhornbk
Lhornbk - 6/1/2014, 10:46 PM
@ruadh, I agree. Yes, it helped set up Avengers, but it also further set up and developed Tony's world. It was NOT just a trailer for Avengers.

Oh, and no, at this point we don't know that some version of Civil War is coming. There have been plot points in various movies that suggest it might happen, but other plot points suggest that it won't. In particular, Tony's extreme distrust of the government would seem to make it unlikely that he would support a registration act as he does in the comics. Plus, none of the current Avengers have secret identities anyway. So if they do Civil War, it's gonna be a lot different from the comics (plus not having access to Spidey, X-Men, & Fantastic 4.)
CapitanAmerika2
CapitanAmerika2 - 6/2/2014, 11:04 PM
@ sikwon: I think the exact opposite of what youre saying here. Iron Man 2 and Iron Man 3 are just filler movies while Iron Man is the most important movie because without it's success we might not have The Avengers and every other movie before or after.
Trickwil
Trickwil - 6/3/2014, 9:47 AM
My beef was how it's basically the Fountain head by Ayn Rand, and Whiplash and Hammer are 2 cool villains from the comics that weren't really done justice at all. They could have changed Vanko to Crimson Dynamo or fully half of Iron Man's villains from the 80s and no one would have noticed.
mook
mook - 6/6/2014, 4:36 AM
'Captain America: The First Avenger' is perhaps the key film. It is the first chronologically and it sets up every other film so far;

Howard Stark and Stark Industries, SSR and Peggy Carter,SHIELD and Nick Fury, The "power of gods" and the World Tree, The Cosmic Cube, Super Soldier Serum, Hydra, Bucky, etc...

I think Guardians of the Galaxy will be the first film not to have a direct link to the first Cap film, and even then it will feature one of the Infinity Stones (as first seen in Cap1).

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